Smart steering wheel idea to mitigate fatigue

The ‘Augmented Intelligence’ team, comprising entrepreneurs and health clinicians from Canberra and Brisbane, has developed a smart steering wheel concept to curb truck driver fatigue. According to an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) report, this smart steering wheel concept features embedded ECG monitors that are visually communicated to drivers through a GPS device, suggesting rest stops in real-time based on heart rate readings.

Andrew Hammond of the ‘Augmented Intelligence’ team told the ABC that the smart steering wheel will prevent drivers from “pushing through unnecessarily, or they can stop earlier if there are better facilities available”.
"There is clinical research and papers available that show high speed heart rate is a predictor of fatigue," said Hammond – adding that the steering wheel would also signal other health risks including early onset of heart disease, stroke and diabetes risk.

The team, which said the technology would cost AU$100 per truck a month for an unlimited number of drivers, won AU$6,000 in cash from the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) and Teletrac Navman at the recent FatigueHACK event. They also reportedly won coaching from the Canberra Innovation Network to progress the idea. "It is quite exciting," said Hammond. "We want to actually have an impact on the world and now we have the platform and a bit of funding to make it happen."

As part of the upcoming WoodFlow 2018 series running in both New Zealand and Australia later in June, a raft of tools developed to improve harvesting and haulage safety and productivity through fatigue management based on recent work with forestry and contracting companies in South Australia will be presented. Transport and driver safety technologies as applied to those companies involved in log transport will also be outlined by leading trucking companies and associations.

Full details on the programmes for both Rotorua and Melbourne can be found on the event website, www.woodflow.events.